Power Rangers: Spartan Assault
by DesertChocolate
Summary: With the Covenant at their door, and with every option coming up short except the Spartans, humanity is desperate for new weapons. At the height of their despair,Halsey reaches back to Earth's past to obtain a power like few others. The only thing is, she's far from the first to access the Morphing Grid. And Master Chief has no clue if being a Ranger is worth the trouble it brings.
1. Chapter 1

_**Authors Note: Okay, let me honest. This story is just for fun. Its an idea I had out of the blue, to turn something ridiculous from my childhood into something a little bit darker. A crossover, combining the premise of kids show, with the reality of an adult game. Here goes. A disclaimer that says exactly what this story is going to be about, if you haven't already noticed the crossover involved.**_

_**I do not own Power Rangers or Halo. **_

_**Yeah…**_

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Halsey rubbed her eyes, trying to keep a headache from coming on. She'd long since wondered if she should invest in some massage therapy at some point. Honestly, with the stress of her job, the pressures involved, the worry she felt every day for her subjects (She forced the word 'children' from her mind) it was a wonder that she hadn't gone insane by now. She looked up at the young man across from her.

He had dark skin suggesting an Arab ancestry, a short curly beard, and long hair pulled back into a ponytail. He sat there nervously, holding a pile of papers in front of the projector he'd set up for his presentation. He bounced on the balls of his feet, obviously trying to get rid of his excess energy.

Halsey brushed a hand back through her grey hair, noting that she needed a haircut soon. She noted her slightly wrinkled hand with an inner smile, tracing her pale skin with a quick eye. Her blue eyes snapped to the young researcher across from her.

"Okay. Run it all by me again. I want to make sure I understand what your proposing."

"Uh, right. S-Sure." The man turns to the projector. "Dot, can you bring it up again?"

"Certainly." The Dumb AI in charge of the facility they stood in reactivated the projector, lighting up Halsey's office.

"Thank you." The young man sighed, than began to speak. "Over the last few months, we've had reports of the Covenant appearing all over human colonies at the borders. My supervisor had our team looking for new ways to increase our firepower for less than half that time. New tech, new weapons, new suits. Always trying to get that edge. Then I had an epiphany."

He turns to the screen, with shows an image of Earth. "What if we were doing the exact wrong thing? What if instead of looking for something new, we should have been looking back, trying to find a weapon in Earths past?"

"Like a spear?" Halsey kept her tone sarcastic, though inside she was intrigued.

"No. Something… older."

Halsey quirked an eyebrow at that. "Explain."

The man nodded, turning to the screen as it projected an image of a cave wall. On it were drawings from thousands of years ago, apparently drawn by some old race of hominids. The drawing depicted five people gathered against stick figure drawing of what looked like demons.

"For thousands of years, stories of people gathering together against dark creatures have been popping up over and over through history. The stories vary, but they always describe people with incredible weapons, martial prowess, and great power. It was until the end of the 20th century that actual proof of such being showed up."

The next image to show on the screen was far less somber. It depicted five people making ridiculous poses in front of a large building. They wore colorful suits of red, pink, yellow, blue, and green, with little capes attached to their backs in the color of their suit. The red one was in front, clearly a leader of some sort. They each wore large helmets concealing their identities. All in all, rather ridiculous looking people. Yet, somehow… dignified. Powerful. Strange.

"They were call the Gorangers. The first Super Sentai. They were called to defend Japan against a monstorous threat, and eventually defeated it. They retired, only to have a new threat show up. In response, a new team of Super Sentai showed up."

Another image appeared, with a new set of team members. Just as colorful, though the leader wore a white suit with a multiple colored stripe on the front.

"Again, and again, threats appeared, with only the rangers to stop them. From all across the galaxy, from multiple time streams, and even other dimensions, rangers fought and defended the Earth."

Halsey sighed, fighting the head ache that was coming to her. "Rangers? I thought they were Sentai?"

"As I said, other dimensions. In our own, the Super Sentai were the defenders of earth, with Japan being their home base. In another, the Power Rangers were the defenders, appearing decades after they appeared in our universe and using either America or New Zealand as their home base. In either case, both used their abilities to defend humanity and all sentient life."

The scientist in Halsey felt the need to interrupt. Since Halsey was one hundred percent scientist, she did so.

"That's all very interesting. However, that is impossible. If such a thing were real, we would have heard about it a long time ago. There would have been textbooks, interviews," She stared distastefully at an image of five colorful vehicles of enormous size and different colors racing across a desert. "Crappy merchandising. Regardless, we would have known."

"That's the thing. I don't think that's true."

Halsey blinked. "I'm sorry?"

"For some reason, I had no clue about this either. I had been researching this stuff for weeks, and none of it showed up until I put the right search term. All of a sudden it was everywhere. Information almost flooded the system. People back on Earth have started talking about the Super Sentai and Rangers. Its like the information didn't exist until someone created it."

"That's… Dot."

"Yes Ms. Halsey?"

"Do you have any information on the Super Sentai teams?"

"Yes ma'am. Would you like to specify which one?"

"No. I'd like to know why you have information I know I didn't see in your programming a week ago."

"There may be a logical explanation for this ma'am." The researcher nodded to his presentation. "According to my research, the Super Sentai seem to encounter 'resets.' Brief moment where no hears from them or even adknowledges their former existence until the time is right. It may be a side effect of Morphing Grid."

"The what?" Headache in full effect.

"The Morphing Grid. The energy that all Sentai and Rangers are connected to. It gives them their abilities, allows them to do things that our knowledge of physics says is impossible."

Halsey felt herself almost wishing that she hadn't allowed this young man into her office. "And what does that allow?"

Instead of answering, he handed her the files in his hand. Halsey took them, and began to read. And read. With sudden focus, she felt her headache disappearing.

Super strength, speed, and agility. The ability to transform at anytime, allowing the Sentai in question to remain undetected for as long as they wished. Access to an arsenal of weapons and vehicles with just a push of a button. Teleportation. Mind reading. Flight. And all of it with what was posited to be a rather simple interface. Apparently even a man running a martial arts dojo in the back of a pizza shop had been able to access the Morphing Grid with very little cost.

And if all of this was intergrated into current day systems… "How many people can we have operating as Sentai?"

"As far as I know, its unlimited. However I suggest we stick to three members. That way we have a good baseline for future projects."

"Then I know the perfect team." Her red sentai/ranger was obvious enough. She had no idea what the other colors would be, but she knew _who_ they would be. Though she would be doing everything in her power to avoid the garishly colored spandex.

It was Mjolnir or nothing, and that was that. Unless the colors helped or something. Maybe just a stripe on the side?

"Tell your supervisor you will no longer be working for him." Halsey turns on her computer, typing furiously as her mind worked. "You are under my command from now on. Bring me everything you have, as soon as possible. And speak to no one else. As of now, this project is classified."

"Copy that!" The young man grinned, almost bruising his head with an enthusiastic salute, before running out the room. Halsey smiled as she brought up the latest Mjolnir designs.

"Time to do science."

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_Six Months Later  
The Planet Ominit_

A garrison of soldiers protected a group of civilians as they rush through jungles of the northern hemisphere. They left behind a burning city, with Covenant supercarriers tearing the skyscrapers of the city apart with massive energy weapons. The marines rode alongside the civilians in warthogs, defending the large trucks as they rushed along the dirt road.

One marine turned to another. "Rodriguez! How long until we reach the extraction point!?"

Rodriguez, a young woman with her pulled back into a ponytail, yelled back. "Its going to be another twenty minutes!"

"That's too damn long! We got Banshees combing the skies!"

"Well we can't go any faster sir! We would have to leave the civvies!"

"Fuck!" The marine screams, smacking the dashboard of the warthog with his hand as the tough car bounces through the jungle. As if to answer his fear, a sudden whine filled the air, and plasma cut into the all around. Civilians started screaming as the piercing screech of Banshee attack vehicles came, followed by plasma explosions. The drivers dodged weeved as best as they could, but it wouldn't for long.

"Come on damnit!" The marine screamed, staring as a Covenant dropship came into view up ahead, set up to tear them all apart. "Give us a break!"

The dropships plasma cannons glowed. For all of five seconds. Then it took fire. It held for a bit, its shields glowing as it turned to its attacker. Then its shields shattered like glass. Bullets smashed apart the alien craft like so much glass, tearing apart the vessel with little trouble. It gave a few weak shots at its opponent before finally exploding in a spectacular blue flame.

Its attacker showed up next. For a moment, Rodriguez thought it was a Pelican. But it was bigger. Almost twice as big in fact. It fired again, the minigun on its nose releasing an onslaught of depleted uranium at its opponents.

Rodriguez noted the dark yellow stripes going along the belly and wings of the ship. Her eyes widened at the desigination painted on its nose. _Sentai-02. _ The enormous aircraft hovered to the civilians and soldiers on the ground defending them as it fired at the enemy aircraft.

The Banshees fought back, giving it their all against the human vessel. But their plasma somehow couldn't even scorch the Pelican, and any attempts at something bigger led to them being torn apart. A message came on the radio.

"This is Sentai-02, providing assistance" The voice was female, and spoke at an almost frantic pace. Despite the speed of her speech, she was neither panicked, nor rushed, if the calm flight of her vessel was any indicator. "I suggest you get moving. We have our team on the ground."

Sentai. The word brought a thrill of hope to Rodriguez. The commanding marine nodded. "Understood Sentai-02. We're on our way. Will you continue to provide assistance?"

"Negative. My team is here to take over."

A earth shattering boom filled the air, coinciding with Banshee disappearing in a bright flash. Up ahead, a tank rolled over a hill, leaving enough room for the convoy to drive past. They sped down the road as the Pelican pulled the Banshees away. Covenant ground vehicles began showing up behind them, immediately targeting the tank.

The tank, like the Pelican, was oversized. A Scorpion, it dwarfed all of their own vehicles by a wide margin. It had dark blue stripes along its chassis and treads, as well as the designation _Sentai-03 _painted below the cockpit. The tank fired again, and again, with incredible speed and accuracy. A Wraith fired a mortar at it, only to have the enormous ball of plasma explode harmlessly against it. In retaliation, the Scorpion's turret turned to the Wraith and fired. A missile that was way too large to have fitted inside the turret it supposedly came from slammed into the Wraith, reducing it to scrap.

"Sentai-03, moving to intercept. Sentai-01, are you available to escort the convoy."

"Affirmative."

A familiar sound came up alongside Rodriguez and her teams Warthog. She turned, blinking at the sight of a standard Warthog coming up beside them. Unlike their own, this Warthog had dark red stripe going straight down the center, and the designation _Sentai-01 _painted on its side. Other than that, it was almost… normal. After the enormous battle vehicles from the first two Sentai, it was almost a let down. Inside, she could see a figure driving the vehicle.

"This is Sentai-01. I'll be keeping you all safe on the way. Follow my lead."

"And be happy!" Another voice cut off the gruff tones of Sentai-01. This one was female, and rather chipper considering the situation. "You officially under the protection of the Sentai. Please feel free to leave tips at the end of our journey."

"Cortana…"

"Only kidding Chief. A transfer of their bank account funds will be good enough."

The man in the Warthog sighed as he lead the way to the extraction point.

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_**Authors Note: Seems like a good place to end it for now. Anyways, I'm sure you're windering why I'm writing this.**_

_**Well if you think about it, Power Rangers and Halo actually go pretty well together. Interesting vehicles to work as Zords, well trained badasses to become Rangers, and both Rangers and Spartans have been well known to defend Earth and other planets from horrifying monsters.**_

_**That said, the only reason comparisons aren't made between the two as often, is simply because Power Rangers is campy as hell. You only need to watch a episode of the Megaforce crappola to know that.**_

_**Anyways, the next chapter will begin in the space around Halo. See ya later folks.**_


	2. Chapter 2

Cryosleep had always been strange for John. Half-remembered dreams, whispers in the darkness, those moments when he could almost hear the sound of the ship around him travelling past the stars. But after the Ranger powers, he started to wish for the good old days. Now every dream was crystal clear. And sometimes, they were memories. The confusing ones were the ones where he remembered things he wasn't even awake to experience.

This time it was the memory of when the Morphing Grid was first linked to his suit. He had changed into the most advanced model of Mjolnir ever created. Mark VI, so advanced that only three were made. According to Halsey, they were only able to commission three, as the cost was astronomical. He didn't have a clue about the Super Sentai then. As far as he knew, Halsey and that new assistant of hers had simply made new armor.

He'd been asleep during the process. But now, he heard every word clear as day as he lay in the maintenance tube, helmet on and suit linked into the tubes systems. The tube monitored things like his reaction time, the different aspects of the suits technology, and could be used to update its systems.

"I hate this." Halsey said, tapping away at her keyboard with an annoyed look on her face. She smiled for a moment, like she was amused by her own annoyance. For a moment, Halsey was replaced by the image of a woman with blue skin with intricate designs in a darker blue painted across her body. The woman looks up and smiles at him, a smile full of mischief and warmth. Cortana.

"What do you mean?" Her assistant turns to look at her. Cortana turns back into Hasley, who looks up at the younger scientist. Ever since he'd started working for her, it was rare that John didn't see the kid hanging around her. He was nice, if a bit excitable.

"Every time I try to use the scientific method to explain what I'm seeing, I fail. It just doesn't make any sense."

"The process is going well."

"It's better than that, it's going perfectly!" Her tapping gets a bit more aggressive. "The suit is undergoing the changes as predicted. The sealed system has been upgraded to near impossible levels, EMP and radiation protection has been increased, and every aspect of my changes to the HUD system have been added."

"So what's the problem?"

"The problem is all the changes I didn't predict. Every system meant to increase John's physical abilities has gone way beyond what I planned for. Reaction time has increased by a factor of fifteen, and his lifting capacity in the suit is way higher than should be feasible. External armor has some sort of… alloy mixed into it. I can't identify it, but it has increased the armors resistance by a factor of ten. And its forming to his body. I'm not sure the suit will be able to be worn by anyone but John after this."

"Isn't that the point? We wanted it make him stronger."

"In a way that we could control. I don't like seeing my… the Spartans being forced under something I don't understand."

"… do you want us to stop?"

"No." Halsey sighed, a sad look on her face. "I don't understand the Morphing Grid. But it's doing far more for John, Kelly, and Fred than I ever could have without it. So I'll try to mitigate the changes, but I won't shut down the Sentai project unless it begins to endanger their lives."

"Understood ma'am. The changes are almost done. Should I wake him up?"

"Not yet." She waited, tapping at her keyboard. After about two minutes, she nods. "Okay. Do it."

This part, John was actually awake for. He remembered rising out of the tube, somehow completely awake despite the drowsiness he should have been feeling.

"Are you okay John?" Halsey asked worriedly.

"Yes ma'am." The super soldier rose to his feet, standing at parade rest. He'd felt amazing. His body moved smoothly and easily, and he could barely feel the suit on his body. Every breath seemed to supercharge him. He noted all these changes with superhuman clarity, his mind noting them at lightning speed.

"One more thing, and then the integration will be complete." The assistant said. He moved forward, and John read his name badge. _Mohcen_. "You need to transform."

"…What."

"Yeah." The assistant rubbed the back of his head nervously. "Do it like this." He raises a fist and rests it against his heart, while his other goes around his back1. "Make this motion, and say 'Henshin.' The motion is the kind you wouldn't make in combat, and the word is something that you wouldn't use for any other reason. That way you don't transform on accident."

Halsey let out a bemused snort. "Yeah right. More like you insisted on following some weird tradition."

Mohcen's ears burned red, but he didn't react otherwise. "Go ahead. The Morphing Grid will do the rest."

Confused, John hesitantly did as he was told. He smoothly went through the motions. "…henshin."

Suddenly the world transformed. He found himself in a place where every inch was covered in binary code.

In the dream, he watched from outside his body as he extended his arm out from his sides at 75 degree angles. Binary code wrapped around his arms and legs disappearing in a flash to reveal his green armor had transformed to black with red highlights. The binary code surrounded his chest, doing the same. His helmet lighted up in a flare, leaving him wearing a suit almost, but not quite like his original suit.

He left what he would later come to know as the Transformation Sequence, to find himself once more standing in front Halsey and Mohcen, who were staring at him with stunned looks on their faces.

"…What." That was all he was able to get out for a full minute.

Then everything changed. A creature appeared in front of him, massive in stature. It roared, shapeless and formless, charging towards him.

At his sides stood his friends. His family. In the dream, he felt warmth and trust as he and his team leapt towards the darkness. Everything faded in a burst of light.

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The dream started to fade, and Master Chief opened his eyes. He kept them open, allowing them to adjust to the brightness.

"Sorry for the quick thaw Sentai 1. Things are pretty nuts, and I was told to wake you immediately."

He had to hold back from sighing at the designation. Some days he regretted having the knowledge of his Sentai abilities being revealed. It helped morale, but he didn't like being singled out amongst all his fellow Spartans.

A terrible pain filled him. Correction. He was now the last Spartan. He would be carrying on in all their names. All of them, men and women he'd fought alongside his entire life, sacrificed to slow down the Covenant. Except for the kids. That memory helped a bit.

The super soldier rose out of the cryotube, cracking his neck a bit. He moved his arms slowly, getting them back, and took a moment to be thankful for the fact that his sentai armor helped prevent "freezer burn."

"You all right old timer?"

John lifted his eyes to see the familiar sight of a armored warrior in Mjolnir armor. Shorter than him by at least a full foot. Not one of the men and woman he'd grown up with. But she was a Spartan all the same.

"Noble Six."

"Sir." She nodded respectfully. "Captain Keyes asked me to join you. How you feeling?"

The man attending the proceeding from the observation theater watched nervously as Master Chief nodded towards Noble Six. In some ways, it felt like watching two legends finally meeting. Either one of these people could break his bones like so much glass. As Master Chief stood up, the man let out a gasp, stunned as the massive soldier rose to his full seven feet. The black and red armor encasing his body only added to his size, making him seem like more like a robot than anything human.

Noble Six, though smaller, was still an imposing sight. While Master Chief was like a dreadnought, she was more like a fighter. Smaller, but no one who looked at her could see anything less than a killer. She had a assault rifle and pistol strapped to her body, and was wearing inky black armor that seemed to flow with any shadow she passed.

Both wore helmets with mirrored visors that covered their faces, only adding to mystique that was part of being a Spartan.

"Sam. Sam!" The man in the observation was startled from his thoughts. He looked at the other man in the room. The other man pointed to his moniter, clearly annoyed. "Where's the diagnostic data?"

"Ah, right, right. Sam got to work, sending the data over. He opened up the intercom channel. "Okay, bringing up health moniters."

The other man, Thom, sighed and nodded to the two Spartans. "Sorry. He hasn't really seen Spartans before. Just follow me and we'll get these tests done."

"No need." Master Chief moved on fist to his back, the other to his heart. "Henshin." His armor glowed, suddenly changing into a less ornate version of itself without red highlights. The visor was also a bright orange, rather than the bright red it had once been. He didn't move from his position. "Henshin." Again his armor flashed, going back to its original configuration. John did a brief systems check, then nodded to Thom.

"All systems nominal. Ready for deployment."

"…well that's conveinient.

A voice came from the intercom, echoing throughout the ship. John lifted his head up in recognition. Cortana. "All members, a group of Covenant douchebags seem to be trying to crash the party. Kindly show them the door."

"Boarders." Noble Six said, her voice hard.

John nodded in agreement, then put his right hand out. "Assault Rifle:Online."

He groaned when a loud voice sounded out from nowhere as his rifle appeared in hand. "Assaaauuuuuult Rifle! Ooooonline!"2

Thom, Sam, and Noble Six all stared at John as he checked over his gun, making sure everything was in good condition. Finally Noble Six spoke, befuddled.

"What was that?"

"I'm sure I have no idea what you're talking about."

Sam yelled out when the sounds of plasma fire suddenly filled the room. They looked to see the door to the observation room glow red hot. "Oh god, somebody help me!"

Sam went for the alarm, and security door exploded. Thom watched, horrified, as plasma flew towards Sam's chest. Then a blur of black and red flew from the corner of his eye. Sam suddenly found Master Chief standing in his vision. Just like that. One moment, a Elite was staring at him, grinning as it mercilessly fired, the next, Master Chief.

The glass separating the observation theater from the cyro lab fell to the ground. The Elite at the door had time to gape at Master Chief as his shots were absorbed by his suits shields.

Then his own shields shattered, followed by three bullets slamming into his brain.

Noble Six lowered her gun, nodding to Thom. "Follow us. Its safer than leaving you here."

"No need to tell me twice."

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Sentai 1 took point through a hatchway leading into a corridor, his assault rifle raised for battle. He was followed by Thom and Sam, who looked around with scared looks on their faces as they kept close. Behind them was Noble Six.

As they walked, an explosion blew up the doors just in front of them, flaring John's shields just a bit. When the burst of flames was over, the passage way was blocked by debris. He turned to Thom.

"Which way?"

"Uh, there should be a maintenance hallway we can go through."

"Got it."

As alarm blared and emergency beacons strobe through the halls, they continued through the corridors. They eventually came upon a group of defenders lead by man dressed in marine green. He was older, but still in good shape, his black skin weathered from years of combat. He wore a green military hat and chewed on a cigar as he fired his shotgun. "What do we say to death gentleman!?"

"Not today!" The men under his command roared as they fired at the enemy.

"Damn straight! Make every one of these son's a bitches eat lead for their health, then follow it up with a boot to the face for flavor!" He crowed, whipping out a pistol and firing twice. His shots removed an Elites shields, leaving it open for John to fire his assault rifle into its guts. As the alien fell, the doors leading into the section of the ship it was standing in closed, separating the two groups of combatants.

The man in charge turned, grinning at the sight of John's group. "Well lookie here. A pair of bonafide super-soldiers here to save our bacon."

John noted the insignia of a First Sergeant on his armor and saluted."Sir."

"People who save my life call me Johnson. Save the sir crap for a formal occasion." The man grinned. "Where you headed son?"

"The bridge. We're meeting Captain Keyes." Noble Six replied.

Johnson grinned, his dark eyes dancing with mirth. "Well hell. Wouldn't be polite for me not to give an escort to help you find your way there, now would it?

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"Knock knock!" A grunt turned as the door next to it opened, just in time to have a steel-toed boot slam into its face. John followed up with a shotgun blast, filling its brains with lead.  
The Covenant in the hall spun around, raising their guns to aim.

Too slow. John entered the room, shooting as he sped through. He fired in controlled bursts, five bullets every time. Two grunts fell to depleted uranium, while another had the grenade in its hand explode before it could throw it. John sighted on an Elite, speaking milliseconds before he fired. "Disrupt: Online."

A light on his assault rifle glowed blue as he fired. "Diiiiisrupt! Ooooooonline!"

The Elite had enough time to wonder where that voice was coming from before John fired. Bullets surrounded in electricity flew at the Elites shields, passing through them like they weren't even there, and slamming deep into the alien, cause both blunt force trauma as well as sending thousands of volt of electricity into it, sending the Elite to floor in fatal spasms as purple blood sprayed the bulkhead.

Noble Six sighed as she followed them in. "Didn't leave any for me, did you?"

"It's a side effect of being this damn good."Johnson snarked. "Sometimes there isn't enough to go around."

The marines behind them moved in to secure the area, allowing them to move on to the bridge. John took a moment to look out the viewport, noting the enormous ring floating in the distance. He took a moment to wonder at the size of it before walking towards the captains station.

Master Chief, Noble Six, and Johnson stood at attention, saluting their captain. "Captain Keyes."

The man turned to face them. "Good to see you all. We're not doing so well right now. Cortana is doing her best, but with us fighting a fleet with the resources of a single ship. Well. You can imagine."

The holographic image of a blue woman dressed in nothing but code tattoed to her skin turned to smile at Keyes. "Thirteen battleships, versus one cruiser? And we still got five-" She stops, grinning the group. "Make that six kills."

Cortana looked at the Chief, her grin turning into something softer. "Had a good nap?"

"I did, until you invited all these extra guests."

"Don't blame me. You send out one invitation on Craigslist, and whole bunch of people decide to crash the party."

"Cortana." Keyes said, his voice determined. "I'm initiating Cole Protocol, Article Two. I need you and everyone else off this ship until further notice."

"So we can come back after you're dead and all the Covenant have gone to a therapist to deal with their anger issues?" Cortana replied.

"If need be. Until they decide to make a bout for sanity, I'll be landing the ship on that ring."

They all looked towards the massive structure. Then back at Keyes. "Have you been smoking Johnson's cigar's Captain?"

"Its medicinal." Johnson said with a grin, blowing a ring of smoke. John couldn't tell if he was joking.

"Hardly Cortana. "I'm simply following the Protocol. And right now, your safety is paramount. I need to you to lock in-"

"Already done." Cortana stopped, then gave Keyes a respectful nod. "Sir."

"Good. Chief. I don't believe I need to tell you what your duties are."

"Keep Cortana and all information she holds safe." John tried not to think about which of the two he personally found more important.

"Yank me." Cortana said, obviously eager to leave.

Keyes typed in some controls, and Cortana's image disappeared. Keyes took a chip out and turned towards Chief handing it to him. "Sentai 01. Good luck."

John nodded, slipping the chip into the neural interface at the base of his skull. Cortana sighed as a flood of heat spashed against John's senses.

"Back to you and the Morphing Grid." Cortana said happily, using the suits external speakers. "Feels like home."

A part of John felt a fierce sense of warmth. He had Cortana in his suit, and two good soldiers at his sides. It wasn't the same as being part of the full ranger team. But it was good enough.

"Sergeant Johnson. Noble Six. Will you be accompanying me?"

"I will." Spartan-B312 slipped a new ammo clip into her assault rifle. "Last Spartans alive remember." There was a hint of sadness there, hiding the emotions that had to be boiling  
under her façade. "We need to stick together."

"My team has orders to join evacuation crews. We'll meet them down on the ground." Johnson nods, chewing his cigar. "I got two Spartans and an AI with me, my shotguns loaded, and my cigar is Cuban. Lets go kick some ass."

"I like him. I really, really like him." Cortana said happily.

"Right." John turned and left the bridge. "Shotgun: Online."

"Shoooootgun! Oooooonline!"

"...really Chief?" Noble Six asked.

"Is there an issue you wish to bring up Spartan?"

She left it at that. And Cortana didn't stop sniggering.


End file.
